So Confused and Distraught

[bostonlass]

Hi. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/crying.gif I have been going back and forth with my pcp and Rheumatologist for a year now and still have not been diagnosed with anything. I originally went to my pcp with the following symptoms one day:

sore joints in hands and knees
cramps in muscles of my hands and my feet
upset stomach
unexplained fevers between 99 and 101

She ran a few tests on me one of which was the ana test and it came back 1:160 so she sent me to a Rheumatologist.

The first Rheumy I went to at a very prestigious hospital in Boston took about 3 minutes to check me out, told me I'm just overweight and have sleep apnea and sent me to a sleep study. Well I was so miffed at him for being rude about not listening to my complaints that I never got the sleep study done.

Well the pain in my joints got worse so I went back to the pcp and asked for a second opiinion from another Rhuemy. He told me that he thinks I have some type of auto-immune disease and ran tests on me.......on a day where I actually felt the best I've ever felt. Well wouldn't you know that all except for a slightly elevated sed rate and some white blood cells in my urine, the tests came back normal. He prescribed 500mg naproxen in the am and pm and said to see him in a few months.

A week after the naproxen and I gained 15 pounds so I called my pcp again. She told me to stop the naproxen and ran blood tests to check my kidneys and everything came out ok. I lost 8 pounds immediately after the naproxen but was still pitting in my legs and ankles so she put me on a diuretic. Day two of the diuretic and I had lost 9 more pounds BUT my heart is now racing like nobody's business. I just called and they said to quite the diuretic. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/umm.gif ....does anyone know if those 9 pounds will come back and if doctors ever try to figure out how they got there in the first place?

[starsink]

hi bostonlass:

the weight loss could be coming from the medication you were taking or a part of your symptoms. depending on your eating habits and health, the weight may or may not come back. i lost 22 pounds in just a few months when i first started to get sick. it's been months 6-7 & i've gained two pounds back. i was really frightened when i first discovered that i had lost that much weight and at the time, i really didn't "feed" myself as i had a total loss of appetite. i forced myself to eat fruits as that was easier for me to handle than other foods.

it really sounds like the medication is what caused your sudden weight loss. the tough thing is that there may be more medication in your future that will cause weight loss. it's good that you were on it, aware of what was happening and stopped the medication. i hope they'll find something to help you without causing too much weight loss & i hope that you find the answers you're looking for.

[helloos]

Hi there !

I am not far from Boston, MA. I am assuming this is the Boston you are talking about? If not, then I learn something new every day, where is it?

I am wondering what hospital you went to. I originally went to the Lahey Clinic and thought, these are good docs.....well, my experience there was not very good. The rhemo said "Lupus" ran some tests, saw all my symptoms - some of pics I took, and gave me anti inflam and said call in 1 week to let me know how you are. Call in two weeks and say nothing has changed and he tells me I need to learn to live with the pain. I pick up my records from him and he says he strongly thinks lupus but will wait for something more dramatic to happen - my kidneys !!! not !! So I went to another doc in Nashua, NH for a second opinion. My first visit was 1 1/2 hours with him. I have stayed with him.

If you are not that far, and are interested, you could pm me and I will send you his information. He has Lupus patients and is up to date with treatments, etc. and is a nice doctor.

I think that if you current doctor suspects Lupus then he would be the one to treat you and help you along. The meds could be the result of the swelling, etc. I think it would be a good idea to bring this point up to your doctor and list your questions on paper and get them answered. Your body does not have a fever for no reason. I went months and even now off an on with a low grade fever.

Don't give up !!!